how to remove mac adware cleaner pop up window

A

First, never use any kind of "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" software on a Mac. That's how you create problems, not how you solve them.

B

You may have installed a fake "utility" called "Advanced Mac Cleaner." Like any software that purports to automatically "clean up" or "speed up" a Mac, it's a scam, and some variants of it are ad-injection malware.

To remove it, please take the steps below. Some of the files listed may be absent in your case. Back up all data before proceeding.

Malware is always changing to get around the defenses against it. This procedure works as of now, as far as I know. It may not work in the future. Anyone finding this comment a few days or more after it was posted should look for a more recent discussion, or start a new one.

If you paid for the software with a credit card, consider reporting the charge to the bank as fraudulent.

Step 1

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/LaunchAgents

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Open

from the contextual menu.* A folder named "LaunchAgents" may open. If it does, look inside it for files with a name that begins in either of these ways:

com.pcv.

com.WebShoppy

Move any such file to the Trash.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Step 2

Open this folder as in Step 1:

/Library/LaunchAgents

Inside it there may be one or more files with a name beginning in

com.WebTools

If so, move those files, and only those, to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.

Don't delete the LaunchAgents folder or anything else inside it.

Log out or restart the computer.

Step 3

Open the Applications folder and move an item named "Advanced Mac Cleaner" (if it's present) to the Trash. Also remove any items with a name such as "Shoppy" or "WebShoppy." Empty the Trash.

Step 4

In the Extensions tab of the Safari preferences window, uninstall an extension named "XSearch" if it's present. Also remove any other extensions that you don't know you need. If in doubt, remove all of them. None is required for normal operation. You may have to do the equivalent in the Chrome and Firefox browsers, if you use either of those.

Step 5

The malware is now permanently inactivated, provided that you don't reinstall it. This step is optional.

Delete the following items, if they exist, as in Step 1:

/Library/Application Support/amc

~/Library/AdvancedMacCleaner

~/Library/Application Support/WebTools

There's no need to log out or restart after taking this step.

The problem may have started when you downloaded something, such as the application "FileZilla," from the "Sourceforge" website or some other Internet cesspit. Never visit that site again. All software should be downloaded only from the developer's website or from the Mac App Store, if applicable.

C

Links have been posted in this thread to the "macupdate" website. Do not follow the links, and never download anything from that site. It intentionally distributes OS X malware by packaging some free applications (such as "Firefox" and "Skype") in an unnecessary and malicious "installer."

All software should be downloaded directly from the developer's website or from the App Store. Don't trust any site such as "macupdate" that aggregates links.

If what it's saying is "Recommended download, install mac adware cleaner" then you haven't installed anything. So no need to be alarmed. Follow Kappy's good advice, you need only concern yourself with getting rid of the pop-up window.

The responses I got here; are they from Apple support people?

Absolutely not. The name of the site is very misleading. The responses you get here could come from anyone at all, and are not endorsed by Apple. Never forget that.

From my experience, you aren't suppose to put anything on the mac especially anit virus or anti spyware programs.

You couldn't be more right. The problem was caused by installing unknown, unnecessary software for no good reason. As long as you don't make that mistake, you'll be fine. Only install software that directly helps you to do something useful with the computer, such as a word processor, video editor, game, or the like. You didn't buy a computer so that you could "clean" it or scan it for malware, and you never need software to help you do that.

There are no Apple support people here. Everyone is just a user like yourself including the person whose advise you chose to use. Note that he often expresses only personal opinions many of which have no special proof and are not Apple approved any more than other advice you find here.

There is nothing inherently wrong with installing programs on your computer to locate and remove adware. They save a lot of time in ridding your computer of malware. You don't NEED anti-malware software, but that does not mean the same thing as "never install." If Apple's awesome product had it covered, then you wouldn't have a problem with adware. Don't simply be conned into believing a long post that sounds authoritative is necessarily best advice.

very helpful, thank you! Dang Sourceforge / FileZilla.

I am lost with your very first step:

Step 1

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/LaunchAgents

What line? What page?

If you triple click on the line "~/Library/LaunchAgents' it will select the complete line as shown above in preparation for the next step of the procedure.

WHERE WILL I FIND THAT LINE? I have no idea where to look.

Well I found it in your post.

I believe your post came from Link's post.

So I would look there.

Kim

I deleted Adware Mac Cleaner with no problem, but in my activity monitor I found 'helperamc' deeply buried in my computer. Every time I try to delete the file, it says I can't because it's open. Went to activity monitor to force quit it, but it just doesn't respond. Not sure what to do. ;(

Any tips?

You might want to start your own post since this one is from last year. A new post would be much more visible. You can link to this one.

Trash – Empty When File is Locked or in Use

Trash FAQ

Trash won’t empty

Try booting into the Safe Mode to see if you can delete it.

Safe Mode - About

Safe Mode - Yosemite

Thanks for the tip! This was very helpful.